I guess I’ll have to give you my weekend in review. I’m not very good at keeping this up on the weekends! It was a busy one, but also rejuvenating! I woke up on Friday morning with a cough. It wasn’t painful, just a dry/scratchy throat! I sounded kind of funny too! On Saturday there were moments that I really couldn’t talk… my voice would crack! I started stressing out a bit b/c if I lose my voice, I can’t teach! That wouldn’t be good! Saturday afternoon I took it easy and then on Sunday I took a good 2 hour nap and it was fabulous (although I paid for it Sunday night b/c I couldn’t fall asleep)!! I feel like I’m feeling a lot better though. Everyone is telling me this is very normal. Almost everyone has said they got sick the first few weeks as well! I guess with all the changes that are going on, my body is just trying to adjust. The air over here is a lot more polluted then it is in the states. I think my lungs are building up a film right now that will cover them until I return… fun! J
On Friday, I finished my first full week of classes! I actually finish at 12.10pm on Fridays… that’s so amazing!! I had 6th Graders again. Some of them are actually pretty good at English. My last class of the day/week is probably the craziest class I have, too! It’s so much fun! I had the boy who likes to touch my arms in that class! I don’t really know what to expect or say. You have to give him so credit… he’s a brave one! He walks up to me and feels my bicep and then rubs my arm. I’ve come the conclusion that there are few things he’s checking out. First, my arms are a bit meatier then Korean Women’s arms, so he just wants to see what it feels like. Second, I think he’s checking out my arm hair. It’s blonde so you can’t really see it from far away. They (male and female) don’t have arm hair. And third, he’s not quite sure what to think about my freckles. This is another thing they don’t have! So this combo is really making this kid curious!
I had a boy come in late to class, so the teacher told him he had to sing. He got really nervous and just stood there. The students started chanting his name (that’s what they do here when they want someone to do something… the teacher even joins in)! He just froze. They eventually let him go without singing. He’s a great student though! The teacher told me that he was a star student. I also found out he was one of the boys who were in the gym on Wednesday watching us play volleyball. His friend pointed at me at pretended to hit a ball and grunted! It was comedy!!
I got to leave school at 2.30pm! But, I went to another school with my English teachers. They had a TESOL meeting with local Elementary school teachers. Pretty sure I was the only foreigner there (I’m not sure why my teacher wanted me to go so bad)! So the English Teacher at the school we were at took pity on my and introduced me to their Native Speaking teacher. She was a Korean American! It was so great to talk with her! She speaks Korean pretty fluent as well, so she is a great resource to have! We even go to the same church! (She’s not in my program though!) She’ll only be here for about 2 more months, but she told me to call if I had any questions. She even said I could call her if I was in the store and needed a translator! How great is that!?! She is also the director of volunteers at a local children’s home. This is for kids who sort of orphaned. Let me explain that statement. Some are true orphans—their parents have deceased. Others are sent here b/c their parents can’t afford to keep them. These kids see their parents about once a year. Then there are kids who’s parents have just abandoned them and they have nowhere else to go. In Korea, those kids can’t be adopted. If they can’t make contact with the parents (and they are still living) they have to stay in the system. So, all that to say, once I’m settled a bit more (a few more weeks), I am planning on volunteering 1 night a week. I’m really looking forward to this ministry! Technically it’s a ministry through our church so I’m glad to be getting involved! I’ll keep you posted on that!
She had to leave to actually head to the Children’s Home, but the meeting wasn’t over yet, so they popped Shrek 2 in for me! This school has it’s own mini movie theater in the English Department… yeah it’s the wealthy school in town!
After the meeting, my teacher wanted to take me to a movie (b/c she knows I really enjoy movies)! We decided on Night at the Museum 2. (I wasn’t a fan of the first one, but I thought I’d give the 2nd one a try!) She paid for my ticket and told me “My pleasure.” We got popcorn and a drink and headed in (which by the way is WAY cheaper here! It cost 8,000 won, which is about $6.50 for 2 small drinks and 2 bags of popcorn!) We headed in and sat in our ‘assigned seats.’ Yes, they tell us where we have to sit! I’m not sure if we can pick like front or back or what, I didn’t understand the Korean being spoken! It was an experience! Yes, it is in English! It’s subtitled in Korean. It was quite comical b/c that movie has a lot of one-liners and slang words. I was the only one laughing at a lot of the parts b/c the literal translation isn’t that funny! Ha… I definitely realized I was the only Foreigner in there! It was fun and I know my teacher really enjoyed it!
Later that night, I hung out with some of my American teachers. After we went out we came back and watched a movie on the roof of our building… good times! Definitely one of those things I say “only in Korea!” Friday was a great day!
Saturday I slept in a bit (9.15am… it’s definitely better then the 6.30am I’ve been doing!) I cleaned my room (yes, this is a regular occurrence for me… at least now it still is! J) A group of girls had decided to do lunch and bowling together! We had lunch at this restaurant who is owned by a North Korean Refugee. I guess he swam across the river to get here! It was nice. One half of the restaurant has tables and chairs and the other half is the traditional setting on the ground… we sat on the ground! I had the BEST mondue, which are dumplings! Mmm… tasty!!
Then we hit up the bowling alley! We had such a blast! There were 10 of us, but I know it sounded like there were so many more! They take bowling serious here… we didn’t so much! We decided that we were already getting stared at b/c we were foreigners so we might as well give them something to stare at! Needless to say, we weren’t very covert at the alley! It was really fun getting to know the other teachers! We are definitely a diverse group… but that keeps in interesting!! I’m not sure if my Wii bowling days helped me or hurt me! I definitely thought I could do more then I could! I scored over 80, which is amazing for me at real bowling!! I just had to remind myself a couple of times that ‘this is just for fun and it’s okay if you’re terrible!” This was one of my humbling moments!! J
Saturday night, I went to Dr. Fish with a few people! Let me explain what this entails. You go to this café and tell them you want to do the fish. First we had to order drinks though for some reason. (I spent 4,650 won on a can of cider—which is their Sprite. I can get that a the store for 900 won!) Then you walk over and step up to a platform. There are then 2 tanks with about, oh I don’t know, maybe 200 fish in them. You wash your feet off and then stick them in these tanks with the fish. The fish then swarm to feet and eat your dead skin off! OH MY WORD!!!!!!!! It’s all of these different feelings surging through your body. It tickles, but it creeps you out, and it feels like jets. I don’t know… it was an experience!! You set in there for about 20 minutes. Well, the people forgot about us, so we stayed in there for over 30 minutes! It was quite intense! They would got to the arches of your feet and try to get in between your toes. I had a blister on the back of my ankle and they ate that sucker up! It was funny b/c one would find something and then it was like he yelled to his friends, here, come over here, b/c then about 15 of them would just swarm to it! I could also tell that my legs must have been dry b/c they were chomping at my ankles! It was actually better when they came in groups b/c it didn’t feel as weird. It was difficult when like 1 would find something. About half way through I got brave and would look at them! It made it so much better b/c the people I was with were quite entertaining. 3 out of the 4 of us were first-timers! One guy’s so laid back that it didn’t phase him one bit! The other guy was straight comedy… he was freaking out the most! I would say this was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done! Will I do it again—if there is someone who has never done it, I would do it with them for moral support! This will by no means become a regular occurrence though! They did a pretty good job though! After I disinfected my feet with spray I felt them and they got most of my dead skin off! They do wonders for calluses… ha!!
After Dr. Fish, we went up 2 flights of stairs (remember every thing in Korea is built up, not out. So you have to take stairs up everywhere!) to a DVD Bong! (Bong is room in Korean.) You pick out a movie that you want to watch on DVD and then take it to the counter. We paid 17,000 won for this (you are paying for the size of the room) and then he led us back through some dark hallways to our room. It has a huge screen with a leather couch. Maybe this place would be shady if it was in the states, but I choose to think it’s okay here! You just don’t let your skin touch the couch and definitely wash your clothes when you leave! It’s all good! It was so much fun though! For a moment I forgot I was in Korea! The couches are like recliners and you lay back with your feet propped out! I’ll definitely do this again!
Saturday was busy, but relaxing all at the same time! So many NEW and CRAZY adventures… but I LOVED it!!
Sunday was church! I’m enjoying this. It’s a great place to meet Koreans who speak English! It’s also a great place to meet people! The pastor is such a nice guy! I was reminded on Sunday of a great lesson though! It’s easy to get caught up in how different our cultures are but God is consistent no matter where you are! Yes, church is different, but God is the same! We had a baby dedication and it was really moving! First off b/c the baby was adorable!! But, his parents are Korean missionaries to Turkey. They are supported by our church and other Korean Nazarene Churches. They are the only Nazarene Missionaries in Turkey right now. There are 3,000 Christians in Turkey, but the population is over 77 million people! That statement blew my mind! I never knew that! It makes me realize how ignorant I am about certain things! But I was gently reminded that b/c of God, we really aren’t that different. We are all Brothers and Sisters in Christ no matter what Ethnicity we are or what continent we live on! It was very eye opening and encouraging all at the same time! God is good!
I went to lunch with 2 Korean High School girls and 2 other Native Teachers. We went to a ‘Chinese’ Restaurant… ha! It was like Korean food in my opinion, nothing like ‘American Chinese’ or ‘China Chinese.’ It had soy sauce, so I guess that made it Chinese. Korea doesn’t really use soy sauce. It was fun to talk with them… they have great English! One of the girls got baptized last week! She has only been a Christian for a couple of months, so she’s still a pretty new Christian, but she’s passionate and it’s so contagious! I loved it!! It was so great to spend time with them!
For dinner, I was talked into going out for sushi! I had mild sushi! I settled for Shrimp Sushi, which was on a pile of rice! I was pleasantly surprised! This was a Japanese Restaurant. So, on Sunday I didn’t have any Korean food! My friends told me, “We’ll make a sushi lover out of you yet!”
I feel like I go out to eat a lot here… probably b/c I do, but it’s a great way to fellowship! I mean you’re sharing food, you’re eating off each other’s plates, you’re reaching across each other… great way to bond! But, you are also able to have some great intentional conversations!
My weekend was a great one! I’m really starting to love this place! I do have a few things you can help me pray about though:
1. I am starting to get sick, which is rough! Pray for my health and for the health of the other teachers as well.
2. I want to embrace the culture. I want to really love these people and experience their way of life! I don’t want to live American here, I want to live the Korean lifestyle. I want to try new things that are their things! I’m not there yet… I’m still learning. For example, this country definitely had a distinct smell to it. I don’t want to be so caught up on the smell as I’m walking down the street that I miss out on a moment of appreciating something that God has put in front of me! (Just one example!)
3. I want to cherish this experience! I don’t want to take things for granted! Each day is a new day and I don’t want to get caught up in routine!
Thanks for all of your support!! It’s been so comforting to know I have people at home who have been thinking about me and praying for me! There have been quite a few moments that I can honestly say if I wasn’t being prayed for, I wouldn’t have made it! I’d love to hear how you all are doing as well! Send me an email and update me on your life: beckybrents@gmail.com!
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